Wolfson bedevils Williston booys hoops

By Richard BurtonCorrespondent

Monday

Dec 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMDec 30, 2008 at 1:47 AM

By Richard BurtonCorrespondentOCALA — Jacksonville Wolfson continued its impressive run in the Kingdom of the Sun.The Wolfpack improved to 7-0 all-time in the event with a 60-49 win over Williston in the semifinals of the 35th annual tournament on Monday night at Vanguard High School.Wolfson got 15 points and seven rebounds from Marquette commit Aaron Bowen and 14 points and 14 rebounds from Brett Roberts.Roberts had seven rebounds in the final quarter and was a presence on defense to help the Wolfpack (10-1), ranked No. 3 in Class 5A, earn the win."(Roberts is) our leader," said Wolfson coach Bruce Rosebrock, who led the program to the 1997 Kingdom championship. "He's the toughest guy on the team … one of the good things about this tournament is that the referees let you play and he has really strived in this environment."The Wolfpack held a 53-47 lead with just over three minutes left and hit the Red Devils with a 7-0 run to take control.Williston (10-1), ranked No. 3 in Class 3A, didn't score another point until there were 10.8 seconds remaining."We tried to take away the high post entry pass," Rosebrock said. "We saw that's where they tried to run things through … we contested the high post entry pass and that led to some turnovers."With the win, Wolfson will now face Baton Rouge (La.) Christian Life tonight in the championship game at 7:30.The loss dropped Williston into the third-place game tonight at 6 against Decatur (Ga.) Columbia.The Red Devils fell behind 24-11 after a quarter of play, but managed to trim the margin to four late in the first half.The Wolfpack, though, got a 3-pointer from Roberts with 33 seconds left in the second quarter, which keyed a 9-0 run that went into the second half and gave them a 13-point lead with 6:35 remaining in the third quarter.Williston responded with an 8-2 run that overlapped the final two quarters, but could get no closer than six points.Isaac Floyd led Williston with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Tony James contributed 12 points and seven rebounds.For the game, the Red Devils made just 23-of-66 shots, including a 1-of-13 effort from 3-point range, which offset a 43-34 rebounding edge.Chris Rozier added 14 points for Wolfson and Charles Cooks added 10 points.CHRISTIAN LIFE 74, COLUMBIA 68 OT: Craig McFerrin's go-ahead basket with 3:10 left in overtime started a 7-0 run and led the Crusaders (15-6) past the Eagles (10-2) in a rematch of the 2005 Kingdom final.Christian Life blew a four-point lead with 28.8 seconds left in regulation in a game, which saw 53 fouls and six players foul out.Columbia was able to pull to within four points twice in overtime, the last 9.8 seconds remaining, but couldn't complete another comeback.The Eagles, the No. 2 ranked team in Georgia's Class 3A, turned the ball over four times in overtime and didn't record a basket until there were 16.4 seconds left.The final half-minute of the fourth quarter was intense.The Crusaders took a 59-58 lead with 14.1 seconds left in regulation on a free throw by Langston Galloway and got the ball back when Jordan Price's breakaway layup off a length off the court baseball pass from Jershon Cobb bounced off the rim.Corey Self grabbed the rebound and made 1-of-2 free throws for Christian Life, but the Eagles got the ball to Cobb, who drove into the lane and was fouled.Cobb, who led Columbia with 22 points, calmly made a pair of free throws to tie things up with 1.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter.Christian Life then turned the ball over the ensuing inbounds pass, but Columbia was unable to get off a shot as time expired.In overtime, the Crusaders turned to Self, who scored six of his 17 points in the extra session.Galloway scored 11 of his 22 points in the third quarter to lead Christian Life. Patrick Robinson added 14 points and 16 rebounds, before fouling out with 3:14 left in the fourth quarter.Price added 18 points for Columbia, before fouling out with 1:44 left in overtime.For the game, Columbia made 24-of-32 free throws, which included a 14-of-16 effort in the fourth quarter, as the teams combined to shoot 26 charity tosses over the final eight minutes.Christian Life, which made 9-of-24 shots from 3-point range, wound up 19-of-23 from the foul line.The win helped the Crusaders avenge a 54-52 overtime loss to the Eagles in the 2005 Kingdom finals.

PENSACOLA 49, THE ROCK 46: The Tigers (12-3) ranked No. 4 in Class 4A, matched Lakewood's comeback in 2006 for the largest in the Kingdom this decade with an 18-point rally against the Lions (7-3), ranked No. 3 in Class 1A.Quintin Johnson hit the go-ahead free throws with 15 seconds remaining in a game that featured nine lead changes and one tie over the final 5:46.Johnson, who scored all seven of his points in the fourth quarter, put his team ahead for the first time since the 7:09 mark of the opening quarter with 5:46 left at 37-36.From there, the two teams battled back-and-forth.After Johnson's go-ahead free throws, the Lions turned the ball over and Pensacola's Tevin Lutley hit a free throw to push his team's lead to three with 6.8 seconds left.The Rock had one last shot and Scottie Wilbekin dribbled the length of the court and had his 3-pointer rim out as the buzzer sounded.Lutley led Pensacola with 15 points, while Terrance Beasley added 12 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks..The Rock, which led 32-14 at halftime, scored just three points in the second half and missed 12 of its first 13 shots.Before that, the Lions made 14-of-28 in the first half and closed the second quarter on a 12-0 run.Wilbekin finished with 13 points and six assists for The Rock. Vladyslav Kondratyev added 12 points and Patrick Konan scored 11.Eastside 38, Vanguard 28: The Rams held Vanguard without a field goal for the third quarter in an impressive defensive outing.Vanguard went a span of 9:16 without a basket from late in the second quarter until the 7:25 mark of the final quarter.For the game, Vanguard was held to 10-of-40 shooting and missed all 10 of its shots from 3-point range.Jerrod Owens led the Rams with 11 points. Jarrett Gillian added eight points and six rebounds, while Harold Hoskins came off the bench and scored eight. Caesar Wright ripped down six rebounds for Eastside.

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